Summary
In 2016, the Loyalty Islands provincial government (located in the French territory of New Caledonia) enacted the new Environmental Code which recognizes the cosmovision of Kanak peoples and that therefore certain elements of Nature may be recognized as a legal personality with their own rights (7-8).
ARTICLE 110-3 of the Code states “The unitary principle of life which means that man belongs to the natural environment which surrounds him and conceives his identity in the elements of this natural environment constitutes the founding principle of Kanak society. In order to take into account this conception of Kanak life and social organization, certain elements of Nature may be seen recognize a legal personality with their own rights, subject to the laws and regulations in force.” (7-8)
Of particular significance is the emphasis of “the special relationship of the Kanaks with nature and of the existence of traditional methods of management and use of natural environments and resources which are based on local knowledge accumulated over the centuries” (3), and that the territory of the Loyalty Islands province are made up of customary lands which are of predominantly Kanak population (3).
The Code also states that “considering the exceptional richness of the natural and cultural diversity of the Loyalty Islands, which is customarily preserved by its [Kanak] inhabitants”, the Code expresses that it “wishes to favor co-management of natural resources with the [Kanak] populations of the islands” and “its social organization based on clans and chiefdoms” (3)